The plot centers on Jonny trying to earn enough money through sex work in Winnipeg to return home to attend his stepdad’s funeral to support his mother. The exploration of the inherent kinship between Indigenous peoples and descendants of displaced Africans is well overdue, and emerging more and more.Jonny Appleseed by Joshua Whitehead follows Jonny, a 2Spirit, Queer Oji-Cree person, as he moves to Winnipeg and navigates life away from the reservation. The fact that these two texts might be in conversation with one another is fascinating and, in a way, inevitable. Lastly, I was struck by the similarities between Jonny Appleseed and Toni Morrison’s writing, with a direct quote from Beloved appearing somewhere along the way.
And as much as I love a literary sex scene, they quickly become superfluous and never reach the graphic levels of, say, Marlon James’ explicit writing, which I was waiting and hoping for. My only critique is the frequent display of sentimentality, grand speeches where characters disclose their love having kept their feelings bottled up for the preceding lifetime. There are lots of sex scenes, many fluids are mentioned (if you are squeamish or prudish, it may not be for you), but even more memorable is one scene about nails being cut that to this very moment makes me skin crawl to think about the description of clippers and blood and skin. The writing is incredibly vivid, and I mean incredible.
He reflects upon his memories of growing up on rez, his relationship with his grandmother, mother, and friends/lovers from that recent past as he prepares to return for a funeral. Jonny Appleseed is a coming of age story of the title character who is Two-Spirit/Indigiqueer, living in Winnipeg, and working in the cybersex industry. Whitehead’s voice is beautiful and melodic, and made the book even more enjoyable, even though I have nothing else to compare it to.
I was fortunate enough to have Joshua Whitehead himself read me Jonny Appleseed on audiobook, and it was a treat.
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